From the Kansas City Board of Trade website:
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"When the original members of the Kansas City Board of Trade met on the banks of the Missouri River to develop a more organized method of buying and selling grain they could not have foreseen the far-reaching impact of their vision.
More than a century later, more than 10 billion bushels of wheat would change hands on the exchange in one year, and grain producers and users around the globe would look to Kansas City for the fair price of hard red winter wheat, the primary ingredient in the world's bread.
Over time, the exchange's leadership would extend into other markets. Indeed, it was at the Kansas City Board of Trade that stock index futures, hailed as the most innovative financial instrument of the 1980s, were born.
The Kansas City Board of Trade was founded in 1856 by a group of Kansas City merchants. It served a function similar to a Chamber of Commerce. The Kansas City Board of Trade was formally chartered in 1876. Located on the northern border between Kansas and Missouri and the junction of two rivers, Kansas City is situated in one of the most productive wheat-growing regions of the world.
Early trading at the exchange was primarily in cash grains. Today, grain elevators, exporters, millers and producers use the exchange to protect their cash positions by buying or selling futures and options. Stock market investors also utilize KCBT products. Nonetheless, cash grain trading is still the core business of many of KCBT's members.
Throughout its development, the Kansas City Board of Trade has prided itself on its Midwestern heritage. Integrity and service are the cornerstones upon which the Board of Trade was founded, and they remain as important today as then."
From the National Register application:
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"McKecknie and Trask, architects; Pratt and Thompson Construction Company, contractors, 1923-1924.
The third home of the Kansas City, Missouri, Board of Trade, this 13-story commercial building is highly embellished on the north, west and south facades. H-shaped in plan, the Board of Trade building is characterized by a deeply recessed light court at the west and east facades. Extending three stories in height, the base of the Board of Trade is faced with glazed terra cotta. Colossal pilasters and wide spandrels divide each bay.
The storefront levels, placed at the north (10th Street) and west (Wyandotte Street) facades, slightly modified from the original design, feature centrally-placed arched recessed entrances with paired, double-leaf aluminum-framed doors. The entry bays, further characterized by divided transoms, coffered intrados and prominent scrolled cartouche, extend through the second story. The north facade also features secondary entrances at the end bays, and plate glass windows that flank the main entrance. The remainder of the storefront facades has been modified with slate cladding and glass block.
Fenestration of the upper stories is one-over-one, double hung, sash; placed in pairs and threes at the end bays and in single units at the center bays of the second and third stories. The third story window units feature crenellated molding at the sills. A large stone cartouche, displaying "1924" at its center, is placed above the entrance bay at the third story."